Literary #instaessays: Finding a Way

I am just starting to experiment in what could be called a literary‪#‎instaessay‬–a compelling genre full of possibility. I have written a couple poem-essays on some images from The Emily Dickinson Archive. I am interested in what opens up in terms of circulation (and rhetorical velocity) when we have students (and when we) do work in online spaces. I never had an instragram account before, but the chance to write on Dickinson in this venue was enough of a siren-song to get me to start.

Though I have only written three so far, I find that the genre places pressure (in a productive way) on the writing process. One only has around 2,200 characters. Things feel compressed, and rushed, but it also adds an energy to the writing because of the compression. The limited space pushes the writing toward the poetic in (it is hoped) positive ways.

Why do this? Though it is, perhaps, wiser to put energy into traditional publication venues (books, literary journals)–and though traditional publication, in the long run, has a longer arc of circulation–the immediate and effervescent energy of the #instaessay contributes momentum in the here and now. Enough people despise poetry already (and perhaps these short works will contribute to the general “ugggghhhh” some people feel about poetry. Perhaps, though, this nontraditional approach may raise an eyebrow or two by people who think they don’t get it.

Moreover, as we are in the infancy of digital writing, this kind of experimentation helps branch into what is possible. Engagement with poetry NEED NOT always be through a standard essay. Some people cling to print technology without even knowing it. Who knows? Maybe engaging poetry on social media sites will be the standard approach in fifty years.